EMHTC -Chapter 33 Shocking! Prince Crawls Forward on the Ground…

Someone has tampered with the imperial grain.

The Emperor’s dark eyes bore into the officials of the Ministry of Revenue. Surprisingly, he did not erupt in fury; instead, his expression remained eerily calm.

Yet, the officials standing in the front row, close enough to detect his subtle emotions, felt a chill seep through their thick official robes, penetrating straight to their bones.

Those who understood the Emperor knew that when he was outwardly calm, it signaled his deepest anger.

The Emperor finally spoke, his tone unyielding: “Xu Yanmiao, step back into your place.”

Xu Yanmiao, though often oblivious to subtext, was quick to follow orders. Without asking questions, he retreated to the back of the formation, where a minor ninth-rank official like him belonged.

【The Emperor seems angry. Could it really be that the corruption involving the imperial grain has been uncovered? I need to tread carefully and avoid getting caught in this mess.】

Xu Yanmiao tucked himself further into the ranks. He no longer dared to sneak glances at the front like he used to, curious to see the drama unfold.

【But that Vice Minister of Revenue…】

The Ministry of Revenue had two Vice Ministers. Feeling the Emperor’s gaze upon them, both were utterly stricken, as if waking from a nightmare. Their hearts raced as they lamented their fate.

“Which Vice Minister is it? Speak clearly!”

The Left Vice Minister’s forehead was drenched in sweat, his face pale as paper. The oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily in the hall, as though the very walls were about to crumble under its force. The Right Vice Minister trembled violently, terrified of being implicated, his expression riddled with unease.

【Ten thousand mu of imperial farmland, and the Emperor himself ordered that taxes be halved after the disaster. Tsk, tsk. Who would’ve thought that the Right Vice Minister, Yang Cheng, would collect the full tax anyway? And yet he had the audacity to leave four-tenths of it behind for the court.】

The court fell into an oppressive silence.

The Right Vice Minister, who had been clinging to a thread of hope, suddenly stumbled forward, crawling and kowtowing violently.

“Your Majesty! This humble servant… I am guilty… I…”

The man stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

The Left Vice Minister, meanwhile, nearly collapsed from sheer relief, drenched in sweat. He knew he hadn’t embezzled any funds, but in the bureaucratic world of collusion and guilt by association, no one was ever truly safe.

Finally, the Right Vice Minister found his voice: “Your Majesty!” He moved forward on his knees, weeping bitterly. “It was but a moment of foolishness!”

The Emperor’s response was chillingly terse: “…Heh.”

【You seemed pretty clear-headed when you committed the crime. It’s only now that you’re panicking.】

Xu Yanmiao heard the commotion ahead and felt a rising urge to peek.

【No! Xu Yanmiao, control yourself! Don’t provoke the Emperor’s wrath!】

He sternly reminded himself, withdrawing further and flipping through previous corruption cases on his system interface to pass the time.

【Wow, at least the man left behind four-tenths of the taxes for the court.】

【What a disgrace. What does it mean to “beg while kneeling”?】

His inner commentary was so vividly expressive that those who could hear his thoughts might have mistaken him for someone intent on utterly destroying the Right Vice Minister.

The Right Vice Minister, already in turmoil, panicked even more. “Your Majesty! No, it’s not true! I didn’t mean that! This humble servant never intended such disrespect!”

He had only wanted to skim some money, not bring disaster upon himself!

The Minister of Revenue glared at him in frustration.

In this bureaucratic world, nearly everyone embezzled a little here and there. But six-tenths?! Were you afraid the Emperor wouldn’t notice?

The Emperor’s gaze bore into the Vice Minister, his fingers drumming rhythmically on the dragon-head armrest. Each tap reverberated like an ominous toll in the Hall of Judgment.

【And the Auditor General!】

The Auditor General, tasked with verifying the empire’s fiscal and grain accounts, broke out in a cold sweat when Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts turned toward him.

Without waiting for further accusations, he dropped to his knees with a loud thud. “Your Majesty!”

He crawled forward, his forehead pressed to the cold stone floor. His body trembled, and his back ached from the force of his kowtowing.

【Wow…】

【He really pocketed a lot of bribes while helping balance the books. Let’s see… Oh, two hundred bolts of fine silk, thirty bolts of satin, and silver worth a million taels!】

The Auditor General froze, feeling utterly exposed.

【So much money! I’ve never even seen that much in my life!】

The man began to kowtow furiously, gritting his teeth in frustration.

“Your Majesty! This humble servant has sinned greatly! Your Majesty, I am guilty!”

【Wow!】 Xu Yanmiao’s thoughts only grew more enthusiastic.

【They’ve really been creative in coming up with ways to skim money! It’s no wonder they got caught. How exhausting it must have been for the Auditor General to cover up these accounts.】

The Emperor chuckled coldly.

Only the Commander of the Imperial Guards, standing nearby, heard his murmured words: “Creative accounting, indeed. Let’s see just how clever they’ve been.”

【Shipping costs alone—100 wen for water transport, 300 wen for land transport. And the food and lodging for the workers and animals? The peasants have to pay that too—another 100 wen! What were they eating, gold?!】

【And warehouse management fees? Another 100 wen? Even the baskets and barrels for transporting the money—both 100 wen each? Do you really need two containers just to hold cash? How absurd!】

【Oh, and it gets worse!】

【Apparently, they charge the peasants a “prayer fee” to ensure safe passage on the rivers. That’s another 100 wen! Are you serious?】

The naive Xu Yanmiao, who had never engaged in or even considered embezzlement, was utterly shocked. His eyes were glued to the system screen, oblivious to the storm brewing around him.

Meanwhile, the court officials felt the mounting tension, each one silently begging Xu Yanmiao to stop talking—or thinking.

When Xu Yanmiao calculated the total figures, his mind reeled.

【This can’t be right! The Emperor’s base tax rate is only 1,800 wen per stone of rice. But after all this creative skimming, the total rises by 900 wen!】

【That’s 2,700 wen per stone! They’ve practically doubled the tax rate!】

Xu Yanmiao was in awe.

【Did Buddha pass through here? Are they scraping gold dust off the statues for him?】 The Ministry of Works’ Auditor General felt the urge to turn around and kneel before Xu Yanmiao in reverence.

The Left Vice Minister of Revenue knew he shouldn’t laugh. He knew that Xu Yanmiao’s cutting remark about “begging on their knees” was cruel. Yet, seeing his fellow victim, the Auditor General, drenched in cold sweat from Xu Yanmiao’s relentless revelations, he couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing:

“Pfft—”

Apologies, but witnessing someone worse off than himself, his heart suddenly felt a strange sense of balance.

【What were the eighteen censors dispatched to Henan for famine relief doing two years ago? The warehouse officials there were adding water to the grains and soybeans to increase weight. When the weather heated up, all that grain got ruined from the damp heat!】

【Seven million bushels of grain went bad! The local officials, afraid of being discovered, buried it all underground!】

【Seven million bushels wasted!】

Immediately, the eighteen censors in charge of inspecting and overseeing famine relief broke into a sweat and knelt on the ground.

【Ah! That Xue Yuanji! The emperor sent him to comfort disaster victims, and this criminal officer from the Ministry of Justice let death row prisoners do his work for him while he lazed around!】

The officer from the Ministry of Justice turned pale as a sheet.

【And this Chen, a Minister from the Ministry of Works! Impressive! After accepting bribes, he told the emperor that Henan not only suffered from drought but also from locust plagues, scamming a huge amount of disaster relief funds.】

The Minister from the Ministry of Works staggered, his entire body trembling as his blood ran cold. “Ah! …” “Oh no! …”

Xu Yanmiao stood too far back to see or hear the events unfolding at the front clearly. Determined to keep a low profile, he focused on flipping through gossip notes.

While he was thoroughly entertained, the 1,188 capital officials present at the court were breaking into cold sweats. When they heard Xu Yanmiao’s exclamations, they prayed it wasn’t their name. Upon realizing it wasn’t, their legs almost gave out from relief. Yet, as soon as the next name was mentioned, their anxiety returned in full force, leaving them on edge and terrified.

One by one, their faces turned pale with fear.

It was like the King of Hell calling out names.

【Oh! The Minister of Justice!】

The other ministers all turned to stare at the Minister of Justice. Their expressions resembled those of honest students discovering a classmate cheating on an exam. “What? Even you got involved? What were you thinking!”

The Minister of Justice was dumbfounded.

Wait, did he really do something?

He racked his brain but couldn’t recall any wrongdoing… which made it even scarier! Had he unintentionally done something? Or perhaps one of his relatives or children had used his name to commit crimes behind his back?

A shiver ran down his spine as he knelt hastily under the Emperor’s piercing “even you’re involved?” glare.

“Your Majesty!” His voice choked with emotion, his face full of guilt. “I… I have failed Your Grace.”

【Hahaha! He read in an ancient text that wheat was poisonous, but he still loved eating noodles. So, after cooking the noodles, he’d bag them up, dry them in the wind, and rinse them in cold water three or four times before eating! Hahaha! Who eats noodles like that?】

The Emperor: “…”

The Minister of Justice: “…”

The other ministers: “…”

The court officials: “…”

Why? Why is someone able to multitask on such absurd topics during a serious investigation?

The Minister of Justice was drenched in sweat. He gulped dryly, collapsed onto the ground with a loud thud, and sat there in shock. Sweat dripped audibly from his forehead as his heavy breaths echoed.

So close. So close—his entire clan almost perished.

At the Prince Jin’s Residence

Prince Jin, the Emperor’s half-brother from the same mother, had once shielded the Emperor from an arrow, leaving him paralyzed.

Out of compassion for his poor health, the Emperor made an exception, allowing him to remain in the capital instead of moving to his fiefdom. Though already over thirty, Prince Jin had yet to leave for his assigned lands.

Yesterday had been the wedding of Prince Jin and his new princess consort.

“What’s causing such a commotion outside?” The prince sat up in bed and asked his steward.

The steward replied, “Your Highness, the Jinyiwei are arresting people everywhere. It seems they’re officials who embezzled state grain. Word has it that many were taken in during the morning court assembly—Vice Minister of Revenue Yang Cheng, Auditor General Wu Shenming, and Ministry of Justice officer Xue Yuanji, among others.”

Prince Jin’s expression turned grim. “Fetch my wheelchair immediately. I need to see my brother.”

“Your Highness?”

“Hurry!”

The steward retrieved the wheelchair from the corner and helped the prince put on a half-face mask—his face was disfigured, and he wore the mask to avoid scaring others. Then, he summoned a few guards to escort the prince to the palace gates.

After the prince left, the princess consort asked the steward, “Why is His Highness in such a rush so early?”

The steward replied, “His Highness is heading to the morning court assembly.”

“That’s odd. His Highness never attends court.” The princess consort, puzzled, brushed it aside and ordered, “Bring me the guest gift list. The officials all came to celebrate yesterday. I need to see how to return their gifts in kind.”

At the palace gates, Prince Jin’s expression grew increasingly solemn.

Brother, I understand your fears. You’ve kept me here in the capital even though I’m already thirty.

For years, I dared not marry, yet now I’ve grown old and must pass on my lineage. To allay your suspicions, I chose a powerless daughter of a minor official as my wife. And still…

I know. Revealing this scandal on the second day after my wedding is your way of warning me.

The Vice Minister of Revenue, the Auditor General, and the Ministry of Justice officer all attended my wedding banquet yesterday.

Fortunately, I remember this. You’re afraid I’ve conspired with them.

He closed his eyes in pain. How far will you push me?

Looking at the imposing Jinyiwei guards outside the palace, the Prince Jin ordered his guards, “Leave me here. You may go.”

After they left, the prince steeled himself, pushed the wheelchair aside, and collapsed to the ground.

Humiliating himself, he crawled forward with his hands, dragging his body inch by inch as he shouted, “Brother! Brother! The Vice Minister of Revenue’s corruption has nothing to do with me! I’ve never had private dealings with him! My loyalty is clear as day and night! Brother, you must believe me!”

“Brother, is this enough? Brother, is this enough for you?!”